The Bachelder Collections
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from 2021
This feature was commissioned by Bachelder.
By David Lawrason
WineAlign is very pleased, once again, to offer six-bottle and twelve-bottle collections from Thomas Bachelder. He has become the voice of Niagara’s terroir, revealing its geological nooks and crannies vineyard by vineyard, plot by plot, year by year through three grape varieties – chardonnay, pinot noir and gamay. More and more winemakers in Niagara are on this same journey and we review their wines with the same fascination, yet perhaps with better understanding based on Bachelder’s work.
Every November 1 he releases his ‘Toussaint’ (All Saints Day) collection. Last fall’s collection features ten different pinot noirs and ten chardonnays from the 2021 vintage. It was a typically variable Niagara year – early start, warm summer, then a rain beleaguered harvest requiring diligent viticulture and opportunistic picking. When WineAlign sat down to taste all the wines I was not able to discern any ‘weakness’ of the year. The wines are pure, fragrant, delicate with better concentration/depth of fruit then I expected – creating a clear prism through which to make terroir observations.
We have put our heads and best ratings together to come up with the curated six and twelve pack collections, that we think best tell the story and will provide you with not just pleasure, but excitement, whether you taste them side by side, or one at a time with your finest meals. Each box will also contain Bachelder’s handbook detailing the varieties, the vintage and each site. Also, please join Thomas and I on Feb 17 at 5pm on Zoom where we will taste through the six-pack collection.
Join us for the Happy Hour on Saturday, February 17th at 5:00pm on Zoom where David Lawrason and Thomas Bachelder will taste through and discuss the wines in the 6-bottle case. Don’t miss it! Register here.
Wines in the 6-bottle collection: (The Happy Hour wines)
PRICE: $379 (Includes all taxes and Free Delivery in Ontario)
Bachelder Frontier Block Grimsby Hillside Vineyard Chardonnay 2021
Bachelder Hill Of Wingfield Wismer Wingfield Vineyard Chardonnay 2021
Bachelder Ivy & Warren Saunders Parcelle ‘haut’ Chardonnay 2021
Bachelder Hanck Pinot Noir 2021
Bachelder Old Eastern Block Lowrey Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021
Bachelder Wismer Parke Pinot Noir 2021
The 12-Pack includes the 6-pack wines (above) plus the following 6 wines:
(12 different wines in the 12-pack)
PRICE: $691 (Includes all taxes and Free Delivery in Ontario)
SAVE: $52 (Regular price is $743)
Bachelder Red Clay Barn Block Grimsby Hillside Vineyard Chardonnay 2021
Bachelder Bai Xu Vieilles Vignes 1981 Planting Chardonnay 2021
Bachelder Wismer Wingfield Chardonnay 2021
Bachelder Ivy & Warren Saunders Parcelle ‘bas’ Pinot Noir 2021
Bachelder Wild West End Wismer Parke Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021
Bachelder Lowrey Old Vines Pinot Noir 2021
This feature was commissioned by Bachelder Niagara. As a regular feature, WineAlign tastes wines submitted by a single winery, agent or region. Our writers independently, as always, taste, review and rate the wines — good, bad and indifferent, and those reviews are posted on WineAlign. We then independently recommend wines to appear in the article. Wineries, wine agents, or regions pay for this service. Ads for some wines may appear at the same time, but the decision on which wines to put forward in our report, and its content, is entirely up to WineAlign.